To tan or not to Tan...

elishanb · September 2009

Ok so I am not a tanner (Dj Tanner or a fake and bake Tanner)I have very pale skin but at the pool or the beach I pick up a slightly darker shade of pale pretty easily. My BMs have been asking me if I am going to tan when I wear my ivory dress next fall. (Here I thought I was rocking this pale) So I was wondering how many of you are (or did) rock the pale or got a spray tan, or faced the tanning bed? And did you go all out for the full on tanned look? Or just a little glowy?

jlryan1 · September 2009

I hit the tanning bed for my wedding, but for a fall wedding, I don't think you'd have to worry about it too much if you didn't have a tan. I definitely had a full on tan and it wasn't necessary (at least not in May!) but I couldn't help myself.

dreamalotmp · September 2009

I went to the beds (Love the beds even tho they are SO bad for ya). My wedding was ni the winter and we were going to the Caribbean, so I wanted to have some color for the wedding and not burn on the HM. I was very happy with my choice. I started going about 3 months before the wedding, but not every day.

kbielak17 · September 2009

I am doing a combination of tanning bed and pool/beach tan, but nothing outrageous. Just enough to get a nice color/glow.

AMK2009 · September 2009

I did the tanning bed for my wedding. I've also had a spray tan before, and I liked it.

KimWard · September 2009

I have a naturally darker complexion, so this prob. doesn't count, but I didn't fake bake and never will. I will spare you my lecture on fake baking (my BM had skin cancer at one point), but I think that between your natural summer tan and maybe a self tanner/spray tan, you will be fine. :-)

cobrien1976 · September 2009

I am extremely pale!! I've been able to tan once in my entire life, long story short, I was so badly burned, that I couldn't sleep, bathe, or walk for 3 days - hospitalized!! But after the angony was over, I had a beautiful tan on the front part of my legs ONLY - it was a sight. So no, I will not do any type of tanning, real or fake, it is just way too painful and I am afraid the outcome of spray tanning would make my skin orange or something horrific!

elishanb · September 2009

Ok yowza! co- that's a bad thought! I hope that was a long time ago you poor thing!Kim- I agree tanning isn't the best thing in the world and I'm not saying I would take it up as my next part time job for the next year I was just thnking about it because my BMs seem to think it's a good idea for me since I blend so well with my dress. (peer pressure is an amazing thing isn't it)

McBridetobe · September 2009

I tanned for the wedding a little. DH has a darker completion than me and was already tan from coaching spring sports and I didn't want to look like the palest bride in the world next to him. I've vowed to never tan again though! I'm done!

elishanb · September 2009

KR I'm trying to picture how that vow went... "I vow to love honor and respect you, and to never compete with your tan again." ;-) hehe j/k

McBridetobe · September 2009

LOL, I should have! Seriously, the boy has a tan from April until November! And he wears sunscreen!

morganphd · September 2009

I agree with Cheryl, I say don't tan!! I am pale and I burn when I hit the sun. I was married in June - in white - and didn't do one bit of tanning. I looked like myself. It would have been really weird for me to be tan in the pics. Do whatever you are most comfortable with.

elishanb · September 2009

see that's my fear, if I tan I won't look like me (I mean I will just a tan version of me) cause I am never very tan. and it would take me MONTHS to get a noticable tan. and that would be extra $$$

dreamalotmp · September 2009

Elisha- I'm super pale and I use this ([URL]http://tinyurl.com/mtpc3x[/URL] when I don't want to go to the tanning beds. It works GREAT cut with a little bit of regular lotion (so as to negate streaks). I've tried TONS of self tanners and it is my fave.

morganphd · September 2009

To see a pale bride, take a look at my outdoor wedding photos (the ones at Kennywood and on Mt. Washington). Especially #5 on Mt. Washington. You don't get much paler than that, but I think it looked just fine. Several of my BMs really pushed me to tan as well, since they are on the dark side, but I just ignored them :P

cobrien1976 · September 2009

I agree with Shannon, I wouldn't look like myself at all with a tan. And my incident was 16 years ago, but I've been burned many times since then, just never that bad.

dreamalotmp · September 2009

I JUST got what you meant by DJ Tanner. LOL!

KimWard · September 2009

Don't feel bad Molly, I just got that after reading your post. :-P I loved Full House...I am just a little slow today!

reannalynne · September 2009

I say no tan. My BMs are pushing me to, also, but I, like you, don't think i will look like "myself". why am i going to do something completely different for that day? Why can't I be me? My mom already talked me into an updo (i want half up half down, more "me") because seh said I would be really hot after a drink or two and after dancing.

LaFemmeRousse · September 2009

Elisha, one vote for no tanning from a fellow uber-pale lady. Agreed with many PPs- unless you normally tan, you won't look like "yourself" on your wedding day. I feel like it would be weird to look back on my wedding pictures and think, "I was never that color before and I will never be that color again."Plus, if you dress is ivory (LOVE), that's usually automatically more flattering to a pale skin tone than a bright white! You will be vintage elegant

brivb10 · September 2009

I'm late to this party, but I am going to tan for my January wedding since we are headed to the caribbean after. I am going for glowly look on face arms and hands, but going to get a little darker on my bottom half (to becovered at wedding anyways). I haven't been tan in a few years, because i'm always working!!! But, I love looking tan, and I think a little stress relief in a tanning bed is not a bad idea. My BMS and I are going together, and DF will go a few times too. I wear daily spf everywhere, so as long as I don't burn, I figure there are worse things in life that may kill me other than 10 visits to a tanning bed before my wedding.

[Deleted User] · September 2009

I'll probably tan a little for my December wedding, because we're going to Cancun for the HM, and if I don't tan, I'll BURN like it's going out of style once we get there. For me, it's not so much about tanning for the wedding but for the honeymoon!

PensChick20 · September 2009

Late on this post. I am pale. Everyone who knows me IRL knows this. I cannot tan no matter how much tanning bed or laying out. I burn and burn. And I get freckles. But no tan. I have Irish skin so it loves to burn. But honestly I wore a white white dress and I looked tan in it because it was so white. And personally I thought I looked fine. If I would have tanned I would have looked terribly fake to everyone I know.

elishanb · September 2009

Thanks for all the opinions on this ladies. And I'm glad a few of you got the Dj Tanner reference

I didn't even take into consideration being prepared for the HM (which we haven't even begun to thnk about) I don't really want to have to look at the pictures and think "Why the H am I so tan?" but I don't want to burn to a crisp if we go somewhere after the wedding and spend a lot of time in the sun. I love the idea of rocking the pale to keep the old hollywood glamour (since nobody tanned back in the day) I guess time will tell but I'm leaning towards the no right now. Thanks yinz guys

JennyBee1018 · September 2009

I absolutley rocked out my pale skin and loved being the Greek goddess my DH thinks I am :-) Seriously, tanning does not work for my skin, not to mention it is really bad for your skin. For me, I knew I would look most natural with my regular skin tone. So I did not tan at all for my Fall wedding, and it was the best decision for me. HTH!

pinksonya · September 2009

I would say if anything (like everyone else has said), tan just a little. Enough to give you a slight color and prepare you for the HM. I actually think it looks weird in late fall/winter when people tan like crazy and look all indian while the rest of us are white. Then throw that red skin into a white gown and it really looks out of place! And don't worry yourself too much so far in advance about the little things. I still had slight strap lines when I wore my strapless gown, and no one noticed. I tried to wear a tube top when I was outside throughout the summer, but there wasn't much else I could do.

To tan or not to Tan...

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